(I realize that I'm not supposed to ask certain questions about Google
here, but I DID get an email from Answers-Support@google.com on 10/10
saying to post this question here, so I'm hoping I might get to the
bottom of this.
I am so perplexed.
One glorious day, my new webpage about Snowboard Mistakes was listed
on Google as the first non-ad hit, right at the top of the page. I was
thrilled. Then I went back to show my sister a few days later, and
poof, it was gone - completely!
Have I done something to offend the gods or bots of Google? Was the
page down one day when a bot came by and I got deleted?
I believe my page about snowboard mistakes
(http://www.snowboardmistakes.com/)
would be the most relevant result for a search on "snowboard
mistakes",
however I am nowhere to be found. The ones that do come up now do not
seem to be particularly relevant results - the words "snowboard" and
"mistakes" are not even adjacent in the current results.
I believe that I got the good ranking less than a week after
submitting the page to Google. Could I accidentally have submitted it
twice and that's why I was deleted? I would really like to get my page
back where I beleive it correctly and relevantly belongs.

Hello ljt-ga ~
We often get questions about a site's search engine results placement
(SERPs) and why a site seems to have disappeared.
Doing a quick check on Verisign, I see that you have only recently
registered the domain name snowboardmistakes.com - September 26th, to
be exact.
It isn't unusual for a site to appear and disappear from SERPs,
because it has only been picked up by the Freshbot (Google's daily
crawler, which spiders newly-submitted URLs and sites such as
newspapers where the content changes daily). Freshbot entries don't
get loaded to all of Google's datacenters immediately, but appear
through a more gradual process.
Once a site is crawled with the Googlebot, it will hopefully show up
consistently in Google's Index.
Google explains it in "My Web Pages Are Not Currently Listed - 2.
Multiple Indices"
"If you happen to enter the same query repeatedly while we
are in the process of posting the index at our various
data centers around the country, it might seem like you
are seeing inconsistent results from Google. What is
actually happening is that you are seeing a result from an
'old' version of our index one time and a result from a
'new' version the next. Due to the size of our index, we
can not simultaneously post a new index at all of our data
centers, which may result in this behavior for a short
period of time."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
This, however, isn't the least of your problems with
www.snowboardmistakes.com at the moment.
====================
Snowboard Secrets
====================
It seems that the domain, snowballmistakes.com, is really pointed at
this page - and is done with the use of a 'frames' structure which
contains the entire page below.
- http://snowboardsecrets.com/mistakes.htm
While I am sure this was done to cut down on the amount of web pages,
it is presenting problems. You can only point a domain name to the top
level of another domain, not to a specific page within the domain.
Checking the source code in in three different browsers, Mozilla 1.5,
IE 6.0, and Opera 7, the following results can be seen:
"The server encountered an internal error or misconfi-
guration and was unable to complete your request.<p>
Please contact the server administrator ... More
information about this error may be available in the
server error log."
If your visitors' browsers are encountering this error, it is
reasonably certain that the Google crawler is likewise encountering
problems and will not crawl or index your page.
More importantly, Google specifically warns against such practices in
its "Quality Guidelines - Specific recommendations":
"* Don't employ cloaking or sneaky redirects"
and
"* Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains
with substantially duplicate content.
* Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines,
or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate
programs with little or no original content."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
and warns about the use of frames:
"Frames tend to cause problems with search engines,
bookmarks, emailing links and so on, because frames don't
fit the conceptual model of the web (every page corre-
sponds to a single URL). If a user's query matches the
site as a whole, Google returns the frame set."
[From Google's "My web pages have never been included
in the Google index."]
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
Notice, too, that Google warns again about 'doorway' pages:
"Google does not encourage the use of doorway pages. We
want to point users to content pages, not to doorways ..."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#A1
It may seem expedient to present snowboardmistakes.com this way, but
it could cost you severely in the end by being penalized by Google:
"We will not comment on the individual reasons a page was
removed and we do not offer an exhaustive list of
practices that can cause removal..."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
If you want the two sites, MAKE them two sites and don't try to
combine and duplicate content. It can cost much more than maintaining
two separate sites - if you are penalized or banned from Google.
=====================================
The best way to get listed in Google
=====================================
In its Webmaster Information, Google states clearly the best way to
get listed:
"The best way to ensure Google finds your site is for
your page to be linked from lots of pages on other sites.
Google's robots jump from page to page on the Web via
hyperlinks, so the more sites that link to you, the more
likely it is that we'll find you quickly."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A1
While Google is not going to explain their methods and algorithms
beyond what they explain in "How does Google rank pages? The basics":
"Google's order of results is automatically determined by
more than 100 factors, including our PageRank algorithm.
Please check out our "Why Use Google" page for more
details. Due to the nature of our business and our
interest in protecting the integrity of our search
results, this is the only information we make available
to the public about our ranking system."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html#A1
It further explains its technology in "Our Search: Google Technology":
"The heart of our software is PageRank, a system for
ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page
and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. And while we
have dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect
of Google on a daily basis, PageRank continues to provide
the basis for all of our web search tools."
and its PageRank in "PageRank Explained"
"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the
web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of
an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets
a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for
page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume
of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the
page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are
themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make
other pages "important."
Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank,
which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of
course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't
match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with
sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that
are both important and relevant to your search. Google
goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a
page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and
the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if
it's a good match for your query."
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.html
======================
Your Sites' PageRanks
======================
PageRank for snowboardmistakes.com is "0", and the PageRank for
snowboardsecrets.com is greyed out. In any case, the sites definitely
need content and relative links to them in order to be indexed and to
show up under the search terms you desire. I checked the PageRank
using Google's toolbar.
You can download and install the toolbar from here:
- http://toolbar.google.com/
====================
Links to Your Site
====================
Using Google's link: tool, I find there are no links TO your site, nor
is your site listed or links TO your site listed in All The Web.
You can check the links by typing link:www.snowboardmistakes.com into
Google's search bar.
- ://www.google.com/help/features.html#link
=======================
Other Search Engines
=======================
A search with the major search engines and directories shows you are
not listed with them, either. Those searched were:
* The Open Directory Project (DMOZ.org)
* All The Web
* Alta Vista
* HotBot
* Netscape
* MSN
* Teoma
* Yahoo!
Google specifically recommends in "Getting Listed":
"If you are having difficulty getting listed in the Google
index, you may want to consider submitting your site to
either or both of these directories. You can submit to
Yahoo! by visiting http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/.
You can submit your site to Netscape's Open Directory
Project (DMOZ) by visiting www.dmoz.org. Once your site is
included in either of these directories, Google will often
index your site within six to eight weeks."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#B2
===========================
Establishing Links
===========================
Google's PageRank is based on the number of pages which link to your
site.
There are many practical ways of establishing links which are
beneficial to you in your endeavor to get respectable position
placement on search engines. These methods may take time, but they
also help in establishing credibility and help with your page rank.
Approach like-minded or complementary businesses about linking to your
site (with a reciprocal link from your own). This works without
harming search engine positioning or page rank.
A WORD OF WARNING:
==================
Google specifically warns "Don't participate in link schemes designed
to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid
links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your own
ranking may be affected adversely by those links." (See Google's
Quality Guidelines - Basic principles)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
It stands to reason that what's good for Google, currently ranked as
the number one search engine is good rule to follow for other search
engines.
Articles on Link Popularity
===========================
A couple of excellent articles on how to establish the right kind of
links are available in Traffick's "Ten Steps to Building Links to Your
Site", Craig Fifield - 5/3/2002
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=77
and "The Right Way to Improve Link Popularity", By Paul J. Bruemmer
-4/14/2002 -
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=41
Notice both articles offer suggestions which can be easily adapted for
use on any website without resorting to link farms. They both point
out the differences and offer easy ways to get started to the kind of
linking search engines prefer.
"Link Building Is Important", which discusses link building from A to
Z and also provides a good reference page with linking resources.
- http://www.linkingmatters.com/WhyLinkingIsImportant.html
The information contained in the above articles offer suggestions
which can be easily adapted for use on any website without resorting
to link farms. The differences in "good links" and those which may be
harmful are discussed, and the articles offer simple ways to get
started to the kind of linking search engines prefer.
=======================
HTML - The Basics
=======================
Another suggestion which does really matter is to clean up your HTML.
Shari Thurow, one of the leading authorities in web design and search
engine optimization (and author of the book "Search Engine
Visibility"), recently made the following observation with regard to
the basics of HTML:
"Clean HTML is absolutely imperative for search engine
indexing. Browsers are extremely forgiving when it comes
to displaying pages with "unclean" HTML (unclosed tags,
no quotation marks, etc.). Search engine spiders are
not so forgiving. Even something as simple as a missing
quotation mark on the <.a href="page.html"> can cause a
spider to not index text or a link." (See: Link Exchange
Digest, July 3, 2003, "Clean HTML")
- http://list.audettemedia.com/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0307&L=led&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=282
She explained how errors in HTML can affect your ability to be
indexed, and ultimately, ranked. Make it easy to for the search
engines to get to the heart of your site and index it with relevant
text.
Google recommends:
"* Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages
that clearly and accurately describe your content.
* Think about the words users would type to find your
pages, and make sure that your site actually includes
those words within it.
* Try to use text instead of images to display important
names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't
recognize text contained in images.
* Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive
and accurate.
* Check for broken links and correct HTML."
[From Google's Webmaster Guidelines]
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
By paying attention to Google's Webmaster Information and Content
Guidelines, you can show up where you *should* be and that will no
doubt increase your PageRank and enhance your chances of getting
listed in Google's index.
========================================
Some Google Links For Your Reference
========================================
Here are some important links from Google's Webmaster Information and
Webmaster Guidelines. It helps to be familiar with the recommendations
contained in these pages. Webmasters who follow the guidelines and
avoid Google's "Thou shalt nots" usually have no problem getting
listed.
* How Do I Get My Site Listed on Google?
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html
* My Web Pages Are Not Currently Listed (a good 'primer'
on how and why Google works so well)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
* PageRank Information (covers both Google's PageRank and
SERPS)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html
* Webmaster Guidelines (contains both the dos and don'ts)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
* Google Facts & Fiction (can you buy your way to a
high ranking in Google?)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/facts.html
* Search Engine Optimizers (some good advice on what to look
for if you're going to hire a Search Engine Optimizer)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
* Frequently Asked Questions (pretty much what it says, but
definitely worth wading through)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html
================================
Other Sources of Information
================================
There is also good information from many of the top search engine
optimization experts, such as
* Detlev Johnson, Search Engine Guide
- http://www.searchengineguide.com/detlev/
* Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
* Jill Whalen, High Rankings
- http://www.highrankings.com/
* Shari Thurow, Web Pro News (and quoted all over the Internet)
- www.webpronews.com/
who all have columns or newsletters to which you can subscribe and
keep abreast of the best way to use good content for better
positioning in search engine results.
In addition, Webmaster World - http://www.webmasterworld.com/ - has
discussion boards on most of the search engines. While some of the
discussions are anecdotal and/or questions for information, there is
usually enough discussion to keep abreast of what seems to be
happening.
There is an entire section devoted to Google at:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
It never hurts to keep track among these discussions, but remember,
trying to optimize for search engines only is like trying to hit a
moving target. You'll notice among the more experienced contributors
to the discussions - plus the SEO experts listed above - that there
really is no substitute for content, relevant links and good HTML.
=============================
Submitting to Search Engines
=============================
When you're ready with your site, that is it has ORIGINAL content and
the HTML is cleaned up so that it is not producing errors, etc., and
when other sites that SHOULD know about your site have linked to it,
you may want to submit to the search engines.
Some search engines gather their own listings for the main results
they display. For example, Google crawls the web itself for the main
results it shows.
Other search engines use third-party search providers for their
results. For instance, the main search results at AOL come from
Google's crawler-based listings, rather than from work inside AOL.
Nielsen Net Ratings - http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/ - lists those
below, and that will get you started.
* Google -
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
* DMOZ -
- http://dmoz.org/add.html
* All The Web -
- http://addurl.alltheweb.com/add_url
* Alta Vista
- http://addurl.altavista.com/
* Hotbot & Lycos InSite (requires registration)
- http://insite.lycos.com/searchservices/
* Yahoo! -
- http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/
* Teoma -
- http://ask.ineedhits.com/sitesubmit.asp?id=30129
MSN's search submit is located here:
- http://search.msn.com/
which takes you to LookSmart, a "for-pay" listing, and can be found
here:
- http://listings.looksmart.com/?synd=zdd&sid=prt100933&chan=zddresults
Just a logical observation: If you are listed on other important
engines, it is pretty certain you will also be listed on MSN.com, or
you can use the LookSmart submission.
A word of warning: hand-submit your site, as Google warns about the
use of unauthorized submission software and other tools in its
"Quality Guidelines - Basic principles":
"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages,
check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing
resources and violate our terms of service. Google does
not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition
Gold that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Search strategies -
This answer is supplied from bookmarked sources and personal knowledge
gained through the every-day use of this material.
Disclaimer: Please remember that Google Answers Researchers are
independent contracters. We are not employees of Google, and we do not
have any insider information about Google's closely-guarded search
algorithms. The answers provided are from generally-known and accepted
practices with regard to PageRank and SERPs.
Good luck in optimising your site for the search engines!
Regards,
Serenata

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